Man rescued from frigid Lake Quinsig

Sarah Mahan said she was just getting home from work about 8 last night, and had just gotten out of her car on the Shrewsbury side of Lake Quinsigamond, when she heard calls for help.

She said she heard a man yelling “help, help, help,” and said she guessed it was coming from closer to the Route 9 bridge. She hopped in her car and called 911 as she drove across the bridge to the Worcester side. She ran to the water's edge, where she could see the man struggling in the water. She continued talking to the 911 dispatcher, while communicating with the man.

“I just told him to try to float on his back until help came,” Ms. Mahan said.

Just as emergency personnel were arriving, Ms. Mahan said she could no longer hear or see the man.

“I wanted to jump in after him, but they told me no,” Ms. Mahan said.

Minutes later, word came across the water from Shrewsbury that the man had been scooped from the water. About a minute after that, Shrewsbury police cruisers escorted an ambulance across the bridge to UMass Memorial Medical Center — University Campus.

Worcester District Fire Chief William O'Connell said several scuba divers and a boat entered the water from the city side. A ladder truck set up flood lights from the bridge.

“She did a great job,” the chief said of Ms. Mahan's efforts.

Shrewsbury Fire Capt. Bruce Card said two firefighters, Vincent Pignataro and Brendan Palumbo, boarded the department's hovercraft after receiving the same call of a man in the water. He said they met Worcester divers in their boat who were out with the victim.

The man was pulled onto the hovercraft and taken back to shore, where he was checked and put in the ambulance. Capt. Card said the man was conscious, but said the water was “pretty cold,” and said the man would likely be checked for exposure or hypothermia.